There’s a lot of information on trigger point release, unfortunately, I’m not too good at making links when I’m on my phone. The below information offers the basics.
You Could also make a Google search on how to find or how to locate trigger points.
https://www.healthline.com/health/fibromyalgia/fibromyalgia-tender-points#:~:text=trigger%20point%20injections%20can%20deactivate,pain%20specialist%20with%20specialized%20equipment.Sometimes they call them acupressure points probably just trying to describe the fact that you were going to apply pressure to that point to release it. There’s also something similar called myofascial release.
When you or a practitioner who similar with body muscles, such as a chiropractor that does this type of work there are also physical therapist Who do this.
The knot or trigger point can be released with your thumb, other specific tools, your bodyweight laying on a golf ball or tennis ball for starters. the latest thing 10 years ago was they actually inject a needle into the area. It may have saline in it or it might be just a dry needle (The practice of a dry needling ) which Disrupts the tension of the muscle fibers.
When you read about
it, it sounds easier than what it actually is, but if you learn it is still highly effective when done properly. I was taught how to do this by a clinician however, I think anybody could pick up on it to some extent. There are plenty of YouTube videos about
this, Where they either use thumbs or strong fingers, golf balls, or specialty plastic trigger point release tools sold online. Obviously, you’re not going to needle yourself.
A great workbook rewritten from the original version back in the 70s is called the trigger point therapy workbook by Davies and Davies.
In my past, I was an athlete well into my adult hood with Lyme disease. Yes somehow I managed to do it. But I had small trigger or tension points throughout my whole body. The small point of origin can make it feel like a much larger area of pain. And sometimes where the trigger point or tension point is might not be right next to where you feel the major pain,… it could be the other end of the muscle.
All of this is something that pro athletes have been using for a couple of decades. It’s slowly seeping into mainstream, but still is not widely known.
I eventually learned it myself because it needs to be repeated quite often sometimes every day in some areas. But you can’t overdo it either, so sometimes every other day and other areas. Within time it worked, but it was much more effective after my lyme was treated.
In a nutshell, when you find the tension point, it will be painful, but that is where you apply pressure for 10- 30 seconds at a time, then let off. As you get used to it, you increase time. When you let off, that’s when the new blood and nutrients rush in to the fiber , that’s when healing begins.
Although many people start out with a soft tennis ball, it’s not very effective. I use a couple of golf balls that I roughly sanded so they don’t fly off the carpeting and hit the walls Lol. I use a lacrosse ball, some hard foam rollers and an 6 inch soft inflated play basketball to roll up and down my spine on the floor. I also have something called a TheraCane for reaching your back, under your shoulder blades ect.
It’s basically a massage on steroids. But even the hardest massage in the world will not do this unless they’re actually doing a trigger point massage and holding tension in certain areas for 10 to 20 seconds.
I hope you find this useful. There’s a lot of googling you can do on it.
Post Edited (astroman) : 5/4/2024 1:09:36 PM (GMT-8)